A regular feature of the debate over Britain’s continued membership in the EU is the claim that the UK will have a very unhappy time once ‘outside’, a claim that is often repeated by europhile politicians and business folk. A decade and a half ago many of the same people were noisily predicting disaster in the event that Britain failed to sign up for that marvelous new single currency, the euro.

Conservative MEP Dan Hannan has fun with that here.

In not altogether unrelated news, Reuters reports:

(Reuters) – – Euro zone business growth has been weaker than any forecaster expected this month and new orders have fallen for the first time in more than a year despite further price-cutting, a survey showed on Thursday.
Markit’s Composite Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index, based on surveys of thousands of companies and seen as a good growth indicator, fell to 51.4, missing even the lowest forecast in a Reuters poll.
“This is going to be a huge disappointment for the European Central Bank. This is the euro zone more or less just continuing to stagnate, a renewed downturn is an increasing likelihood,” said Chris Williamson, survey compiler Markit’s chief economist.